Job Details

Suitable for those looking for flexible work in Winchester and Southampton. 

As a Family Ambassador you will ensure the needs and views of parents and families are heard and acted on. You will use your warmth, personal skills and ability to listen and communicate effectively to support families whose young person is accessing Tier 4 CAMHS services.

Young people being accepted for CAMHS Tier 4 support are likely to have already been assessed in the community as having significant and urgent needs that require specialised help. Tier 4 services are for those with the highest or most complex needs, therefore your role as a Family Ambassador will be a crucial support to families during an incredibly challenging time.

You will need to be positive, confident, engaging and compassionate, able to extend warm and welcoming invitations to parents, advocates and families whose young people are admitted to your designated Tier 4 inpatient units.

You will work with the Lead Family Ambassador and wider Provider Collaborative to achieve the following core objectives:

• Work with parents and families from admission to the unit to discharge.
• Help parents/families understand the inpatient system and processes – be a source for high quality information that is easy to understand.
• To work proactively with the allocated inpatient units. Supporting communication processes between the clinical unit and parents/families; enabling units to create a compassionate and responsive approach to parents, families and carers.  
• Empower parents to access information and to be part of planning (with the young person's consent).
• Have knowledge and networks of the local area to support parents and families with information and signposting.
• To be a point of liaison with the Unit on family and carer matters, specifically quality improvement initiatives to enable more robust and inclusive engagement/parental involvement.
• Help parents raise concerns where necessary and take action to escalate those concerns if necessary.
• Use your lived experience to encourage clinical teams to embrace the value of involving lived experience in meaningful conversations at all levels.

Sussex Partnership NHS FT is committed to supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our communities. Our workforce is currently under-represented from Black and Minority, Ethnic and disabled communities and we would welcome applications from these communities.

Qualifications - Essential criteria

• Educated to NVQ 4 level in a relevant subject or equivalent level of qualification or significant equivalent previous proven experience

Knowledge and experience - Essential criteria

• Experience of working as part of a team, engaging and supporting others in a team and receiving supervision and instruction.
• Understanding of Confidentiality and Data Protection Act.
• Has lived experience of a family member who has been in inpatient mental health or learning disability services or who has required support and treatment across the Health, Social Care and/or Education system (this might be a child who has been an inpatient for a physical health reason, or who has additional needs that require more specialist support from social care, school or other CAMHS services)